sheeplessOne of the best tours I've ever done
Last time I was in South Korea I went on a tour to the Korean DMZ, which included a fascinating look into the UN commanding force’s role here in Panmunjeom, the joint security area between North and South Korea. The photo above shows the Military Armistice Commission building directly behind me, where talks between North Korea and the UNC are held. The Military Demarcation Line, which is where the front was when the armistice was signed to end the Korean War, runs through the centre of the DMZ and also right through the MAC building behind me. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was standing in the North Korean side of the building during our briefing, so I was in North Korea for about 10 minutes! (so cool)
The ROK soldiers, from the Republic of Korea, (on the far left and far right above) stand guard half-facing North Korea and half-facing the wall of the building to present a smaller target to the Korean People’s Army soldiers if they decided to shoot. Scary stuff.
Our tour then visited the Third Tunnel of Aggression, which is one of four tunnels the North Koreans dug under the MDL to launch a surprise attack on Seoul. I was a bit disturbed initially at the thought of going into the tunnels, after the traumatic experience of the Cu Chi tunnels, but the Korean tunnels were 2 metres high and wide so that it would have allowed around 10,000 KPA troops to pass through per hour. Even scarier stuff!
Full blog entry here. 4 years ago
